*** 1/2 Peter Case, “Flying Saucer Blues,” Vanguard.

It’s got naught to do with little green men, but the singer-songwriter’s latest collection does convey the melancholy of living out one’s days on Earth, hungering for those rare moments that provide comfort and preserving them as emotional touchstones.

As he did on 1998’s “Full Service No Waiting,” the erstwhile Plimsouls frontman expertly turns the specific imagery of his experiences into universally affecting tunes. In fact, such sentimental numbers as “Black Dirt & Clay,” a recollection of childhood innocence, would probably make a mint if sung by some country hit maker. Case, however, sketches these vivid instants against a decidedly less commercial backdrop of bluesy folk-rock, lovingly detailed by a talented ensemble that includes the album’s producer, Andrew Williams.

Sometimes the flashes of meaning Case perceives are recaptured whenever he looks into a lover’s eyes (“Something Happens”), but at other times they’re as fleeting as a feeling in the air one Memphis night (“Walking Home Late”). Yet he never stoops to sappiness, even poking fun at nostalgic remorse in the rollicking “Coulda Shoulda Woulda.” As a storyteller, he also can’t resist a couple of wild tales, including the wry, Dylan-esque “Two Heroes,” a thoroughly modern Hollywood crime story with a racial-profiling twist.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.